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Saturday, March 28, 2015

"When I woke up this morning my girlfriend asked me, 'Did you
sleep good?' I said 'No, I made a few mistakes."

~Steven Wright

Why is Sleep Important?

Sleep is a period of time when our brain and body take a
break from daily stress. It’s something we all need and something we look
forward to doing. Or is it? For anyone who has insomnia, fibromyalgia, chronic
fatigue syndrome, chronic pain, or a primary sleep disorder, that is the
million-dollar question.

We are all gussied up in our soft sleepwear and we begin our
evening ritual for SLUMBER.

Regardless of the cause, it’s a real bummer when we don’t
sleep. We glace at the clock and it is 3 a.m. ; we
are stillAWAKE, or it’s 7 a.m. and we realize we slept through the night, hooray! But, when we start the day, we realize
it didn't matter. We are stillPOOPED OUT. The tumble begins
(sometimes literally). We become agitated and our internal dialogue does not
reflect happiness over the non-event.

Insomnia

Whether insomnia is a primary sleep problem within the
circuitry of the brain or it is due to physical pain, a snoring bed partner, a
pet that can’t settle in, or all of the above, the results are the same. Anyone
who hasn't had sleep or quality sleep knows sleep deprivation psychosis,
headaches, cognitive deficit, and problems with gait, tremors, and generalized
irritation with the world around them.

Sleep Apnea

Oxygen deprivation causes problems, significant ones. Some
people stop breathing several times during the night. The body’s organ systems are
affected because the body relies on oxygen for survival. This is called sleep
apnea. Sleep apnea can occur for many reasons, but the most common cause is
some type of airway obstruction. If you have been told you snore a lot (not
what you think you do, like my husband), discuss it with your doctor. This
seemingly annoying behavior to your partner is more than annoying to your body.

Slow Wave Sleep Progression

When the slow wave stages of sleep, when micro healing
occurs, are deficient or absent maintenance or sleep and sleep quality are
affected. This central sleep problem (occurring in the brain) is seen on a
special EEG used during a sleep study. All those electrodes plastered to our
head works much like an EKG does to see how the heart’s electric circuit is
behaving. We often talk about body organs, but forget that every part of our
body is wired, and like a frayed wire in the attic, sputters and spurts occur.
Sometimes they are so severe the house blacks out or burns down. We need the
deep stages of sleep for healing and some believe lack of these healing stages
is an underlying factor in not only fatigue, but also the muscle pain of fibromyalgia.

What Else Interferes with Sleep?

Other things that interfere with quality include teeth
grinding (bruxism), migraine, irritable bladder causing nocturia (getting up
several times during the night to urinate), periodic limb movement (often
called restless leg syndrome, only it is different because it occurs during
sleep) and just about anything that interrupts the sleep cycle, including some
medications or combination of medications.

“Depression, sleep deprivation,
pain, fatigue, unhealthy relationships, and unhealthy coping mechanisms prevent
us from achieving physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual balance. It is
important to talk with our doctor about our sleep patterns, depression, and
difficulty maintaining relationships, but we can manage challenges too. We can
manage challenges by…"
(Excerpt) Spring
Devotions(Cooper and Miller)

SLUMBER My Friend– the Conclusion

Sleep is necessary for resting the mind, boosting the immune
system, and fostering overall health and relationships.

Be sure to read the footnotes to this blog.

Some causes of sleep problems are quite treatable while
others need ongoing time and our attention. But, regardless of the cause, our
brain needs to prepare for sleep. Keep that acronym in mind—SLUMBER. It may not
cure us, but it can’t hurt.

Human bodies respond to routine.

Make it a good one.

Now, I am not a sleep expert, but as a patient, I understand
the repercussions of absent stage II and III sleep, insomnia, bruxism, nocturia,
and severe periodic limb movement. So, if you share the rumbles, dark skies,
and threatening clouds of sleep disruption, reach for the rainbow. Consult with
a healthcare professional that specializes in sleep. They have a toolbox full
of helpful strategies. Keep an open mind; help could be on the way.

Learn more about what you can do to help your body function to its
potential in the books you can find here onCeleste's blog. Subscribe
to posts by using the information in the upper right hand corner or use the
share buttons to share with others.

All answers and blogs are based on the author's opinions and
writing and are not meant to replace medical advice.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Following is a guest blog by “Fibro Warrior” Melissa Swanson on her relationship with mindfulness. Read about how her setbacks became the foundation for understanding mindfulness.

Melissa's Blog

The day that I started to write this article it was an
amazing coincidence I was watching 60
minutes with a interview with an expert on
mindfulness. I reached down into the basket I keep next to my living
room chair and pulled out the his CD. I had purchased it well over a year ago
when I had been told probably for the third time by my friend that I
should try it.

As we watched the report on 60 minutes I told my family
that this is what I am supposed to be doing. I have tried it and had not
been successful at it.

I can not count how many speakers or friends have told me to
try mindfulness. Try asking a Type A person with ADD to lay down, shut your
mind off and concentrate on your breathing while releasing each part of your
body.

I was getting stressed out just trying relax. My mind would
wander to the noises being made in our living room, the things I needed to
do, then “STOP IT” “CONCENTRATE”. “Relax, breathe, shoulders, arms, “need to
email the Volleyball parents” Ugh!!!

Each and every time I would try to relax I would get so
stressed because I couldn’t focus on only my breathing and
relaxing my body.

While attending the NFMCPA LAPAN
advocacy training seminar, Dr.
Michael Olpin was one of the speakers. Dr. Michael Olpin is
a professor of Health Promotion at Weber State University and is the director
of WSU’s Health Promotion Program. He is also director of the WSU Stress Relief
Center. He earned his Ph.D. in Health Education from SIU, and his Master’s and
bachelor’s degrees in Health Promotion and Psychology from BYU.

He said “a nice quiet room is best” and to forget using
relaxation tapes like sounds from the rainforest.

He sat in his chair, closed his eyes, exhaled and let his
body relax. “Silently focus and repeat a specific word for 10-20
minutes. This word you choose is called your mantra. Choose a
single calming word like peace, serene, silence. He chose the word (one).
Allow your mind to whisper your mantra over and over at a pace of about one
repetition every 3-4 seconds”

He softly said the word 1 took a slight pause and then
repeated the process 1..1..1…

He was in the middle of counting and started talking the
thoughts that had popped into his head. “I need to remember to call so and so
and I need to do…. Then when he realized he had loss focus he stopped and began
again 1….1…1

What he said next was the turning point for me. “It is okay
for your mind to wander”. “The important thing is to not get upset if you lose
focus”.

Once you realize that you have lost your focus just start
again 1..1..1

It was ok if I my mind wandered? Someone just told me I
didn’t have to be perfect.

Sitting in this uncomfortable chair in a conference room
with all these people my body actually began to relax.

Yes, it did wander but as soon as I caught myself I started again.

“Slowly return to normal waking consciousness. Take at
least 2 minutes to return.”

I had finally discovered something that worked for
me. I needed to have someone tell me it was okay to get off track
without stressing about it. Also, like every other treatment, medication,
diet we have to keep trying new things until we find the right one that
fits us. I now have success with the CD’s that I had stressed out
every time I had tried.

The last issue of the NFMCPA’s magazine Fibromyalgia &
Chronic Pain Life’s Winter 2014 issue has a very informative and helpful
article by Kim Jones and Mary Casselberry.

It seems that everywhere I turn someone is talking, tweeting
or blogging about the benefits of Mindfulness. I don’t know about everyone
else but my life is so busy once I trained myself on how to do it finding the
time was the next hurdle. I found the time. I chose to practice
mindfulness during the time that I am waiting in my car for my Teenager after
practices and games, in my office at school during my lunch and even as I soak
in the bathtub. It is a cold winter and I do need to find time ways to help my
body get through until Spring and Mindfulness is one of those ways.

How can mindfulness work in your life?

About Melissa

Melissa Swanson is a chronic pain patient, advocate, and author.
through her Facebook page, she offers positive encouragement, medical
information, resources, and support to 10,000 + fibromyalgia and chronic pain
patients. In addition to her own blog, Melissa has been published in
"Living Well with Fibromyalgia" and the NFMCPA "Advocate
Voice". Graduate of the 2014 Class of Leaders Against Pain
Scholarship Training sponsored by the National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain
Association. Member of the Leaders Against Pain Action Network.

I give many thanks to Melissa for sharing her heartfelt story
on mindfulness and her personal journey with chronic pain. Her support means to
world to me as a friend, fellow patient, and author. I couldn't possibly think
of a better way to introduce you to the helpful tips in Broken Body, Wounded
Spirit: Balancing the SeeSaw of Chronic Pain, Spring Devotions. Thank you Melissa for being my friend, for your collaboration, for your leadership and your support.

Learn more about what you can do to help your body function to its
potential in the books you can find here onCeleste's blog. Subscribe
to posts by using the information in the upper right hand corner or use the
share buttons to share with others.

All answers and blogs are based on the author's opinions and
writing and are not meant to replace medical advice.